The summer after I graduated in 2010 was one of the hottest on record. On a particularly scorching day, I went for a run. As mothers pushed ice lollies into their children’s hands and students lay basking by half-drunk cans of ciders, I chugged along the open expanse of the Bristol Downs. Suddenly, out of nowhere I heard a shout. I whipped off my headphones just in time to hear a man yell: “Give us a blow job!”
At that moment, I became aware for the first time of the beads of sweat rolling down my face. I felt self-conscious and angry. I wanted to shout expletives back, but then the traffic lights changed and the offending man sped off in his car. Although this happened four years ago, I still remember it.
Talk to female runners, and most will tell you that they have experienced this sort of thing at some point. Friends have told me enough stories to fill this blog twice over: “I’ve had something thrown at me,” “I’ve been complimented on my ass,” and, a particular favourite, “A man said he liked how I jiggle.” One pal told me that for a winter run in London, you need two things: thermals and a scowl to ward off hecklers.
A journalist blogging from the US recently wrote about wearing a particular pair of leggings that got her unwarranted attention, including men slapping her bum. It prompted friends on her social network to come to her defence using the hashtag “whorepants”.
Do men get the same treatment? A post from one 44-year-old man on a running blog says he got attention from a group of girls. He gleefully writes: “It did my ego no harm at all.” Another man says he occasionally gets beeped, and a bit of attention when he runs shirtless in the summer. Others get comments such as “Run faster,” “That looks like hard work,” or “Don’t pull anything.” These remarks come from both men and women.
But while it is clear that both men and women can get grief when exercising or during a run, I suspect far more is targeted at women. The number of women I know who have been chased home during a run is alarming. I’m told by female runners that heckles in London are just par for the course when when you exercise in Lycra.
The big worry is that these ignorant hecklers will put women off. Sport England recently found two million fewer women are regularly exercising than men, despite 75% of them saying they would like to do more. They are worried about the judgment of others: Jennie Price, the chief executive of Sport England, said that women worry about being the wrong size, or not fit enough. The This Girl Can campaign aims to dispel some of these myths.
The blogger behind Fat Girl Running, Helen Ellis, says when she was very overweight, the comments were worse. The most extreme, she says, was when a group of lads honked their horn and held up a bag from McDonald’s. “They joked that I was running after it,” she says.
In the same way that trolls behind a computer screen feel protected, I wonder if there is a perceived safety in having a go at someone who is passing quickly past? There is no research I could find to prove whether catcalling is more likely if someone is running or walking, though.
Justin Wallace has been running since he was 14. He has lived in London for the past year, and before that was based in the US. He says occasionally teenage girls or young women have whistled or honked horns as he ran. “I got this more in the US and for me it was harmless and funny, but I’ve never had anything inappropriate or pushy.”
“I definitely think it’s more common for women [to get heckled]. Based on anecdotes from my girl friends, they get it worse,” he adds.
Scott Partenheimer, a teacher at a German high school in the US, says that in his small running group, he has never heard of men getting comments. Women experience this more, according to him, because men lash out over previous female rejections or just enjoy the power trip. “That, or they genuinely just want to be complimentary.”
Some women have found ways of avoiding unwarranted remarks. Kate Dobinson, a section editor at Time Out Abu Dhabi, says she sticks to parks where she can “blend in. Wear headphones, even if you’re not listening to music, to drown idiots out. Do not answer back on any account, but make sure you give them a plaintive look of disgust and loathing,” she says.
Other runners say a good option is to join a running club; it’s a good way to train and you can get positive advice, tips and encouragement from like-minded people.
But it is irritating that a woman cannot run alone when and where she wants, especially given how great and free you can feel while running. I was saddened when a colleague told me she runs mainly in the evenings or mornings, when less people are about. She was made to feel unsettled outside her flat by a group of boys in a nearby building. Another friend said a group of men blocked her way and taunted her as she ran in Finsbury Park, north London.
For some women, the comments they hear from men may highlight their own insecurities, but it is important to remember you are running for yourself. If all else fails, buy an iPod to drown out the white noise. That way, you’ve at least got a good soundtrack when you run away from idiotic or offensive comments.
